Download Glossary – Popular Music (for teachers` reference) VII In any major

Glossary – Popular Music (for teachers’ reference)
VII
12-bar blues
In any major or minor key, a major triad built upon the lowered seventh
degree (i.e. leading tone) in that key. Virtually unknown in pop music
prior to the Beatles.
The standard blues chorus. Harmonically it consists of: I-I7 / IV7-I / V7(IV7)-I. Verbally, it usually consists of three lines of text, the first two
similar or identical to each other. “Hound Dog” is a good example of a
12-bar blues.
16-bar chorus
A musical period consisting of four 4-bar phrases in an AABA (in the
case of “It’s Now or Never”, AA1BA2). A common layout for pop
songs, especially when preceded or followed by a verse.
32-bar chorus
A musical period consisting of four 8-bar phrases in an AABA
configuration. The most common layout for pop songs prior to rock ‘n’
roll.
45rpm (also 45s)
45 revolutions per minute. The speed of most pop singles (7-inch
phonorecords) manufactured during the 1950s and 1960s.
78rpm (also 78s)
78 revolutions per minute. The speed of most albums (12-inch
phonorecords) manufactured between the late 1910s and the late 1940s.
See also ‘LP’.
accento
A Baroque vocal ornament in which a melodic line begins on a higher
tone before dropping to the adjacent lower tone. “Yesterday” by the
Beatles begins with an accento on the first syllable of the title word.
Acid Trip
The experience a man or woman undergoes after taking LSD.
Acid Rock (also Acid
A style of late 1960s music that artistically simulates or at least refers to
Rocker)
LSD and acid trips. “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” is an example of
acid rock; as its composers and performers, the Beatles could be said to
have been acid rockers—but only in relation to songs of precisely that
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kind.
Acoustic
Without electrical amplification. Originally, all guitars were acoustic
instruments.
Added Ninth
A note nine steps above the root of a given triad and added to that triad.
A C-Major chord with an added ninth would consist of the notes C, E, G,
and D a fifth above the preceding G.
Added Second
A note one step above the root of a given triad and added to that triad. A
C-Major chord with an added second would consist of the notes C, D, E,
and G.
Added Seventh
A note seven steps above the root of a given triad and added to that triad.
A C-Major chord with an added major seventh would consist of the
notes C, E, G, and B. A similar chord with an added minor seventh
would consist of C, E, G, and B .
Added Thirteenth
A note thirteen steps above the root of a given triad and added to that
triad. A C-Major chord with an added thirteenth would consist of the
notes C, E, G, and F a seventh above the preceding A.
Air
Vocal silences in pop songs. Elvis left little air in most of his recordings,
while the Beatles left more in many of their skiffle numbers.
Album
A synonym for LP. See also ‘CD’.
Amplification
Electronic enhancement or magnification of sound. See also ‘acoustic’.
Arrangement
A version of a musical composition to be performed for a
certain collection of instrumental and vocal forces. A song with guitar
accompaniment, for example, might be arranged for brass band.
Art Song
A song composed by a classical or romantic European or
European-American ‘master’. Also, a song that aspires to similar
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refinement of musical style. Some Beatles songs have been called art
songs.
Asymmetric
Structure
Melodic
Any melodic structure composed of phrases of dissimilar lengths.
Instead, of a ‘32-bar chorus’, for example, a melodic period consisting of
two 7-bar and two 9-bar phrases.
Backbeat
Heavy emphasis is placed on beats 2 and 4 in 4/4 time consistently.
Backbeat is generally presented by strokes on the snare drum, or
comping by the rhythm section, or both.
Backup
in popular music, a collective term for instrumental and/or vocal
accompaniment. One vocalist, for example, sings the ‘lead’ and the
others ‘back her up’ with non-melodic material.
Ballad
In popular music, a slower, more sentimental, and more tuneful song.
“Love Me Tender” and “Yesterday” are ballads, whereas “Hound Dog”
and “Taxman” are not.
Baritone
In vocal music, the male voice with a range lying somewhat below that
of a tenor and somewhat above that of a bass. Also, the range of such a
voice. Elvis Presley sang baritone.
Bars
Measures of music. Every melodic phrase or compositional passage is
composed of one or more bars.
Bass
In some pop ensembles as in classical European orchestral music, a
low-pitched, four-string member of the viol family. Bill Black played
the bass in some of Elvis Presley’s early recordings. See also ‘bass
guitar’ below.
Bass Guitar
An electric instrument employed by rock musicians especially to
support individual notes in harmonic progressions and to add
counterpoint to otherwise chordal musical structures. In both respects,
the bass guitar functions in ways similar to the solo continuo instrument
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(cello or viola da gamba) employed in Baroque music.
Battery
Another name for percussion instruments as a group. In popular music, a
battery consisting of one or more snare drums, one or more cymbals, and
a bass drum is more often referred to as a set or kit.
Beatlemania
The enthusiasm expressed by admirers of the Beatles especially during
the early and mid-1960s. Often reserved for describing the behaviour of
groupies at concerts and other ‘personal’ encounters.
bel canto
Italian for ‘beautiful voice’ or ‘beautiful singing’. Mostly used in
conjunction with Italian opera, although some pop singers (Elvis
Presley, Mario Lanza, etc.) also sang bel canto effectively.
Black
African American. Used to describe certain musical styles as well as the
people who invented them.
Blue Notes
Flatted or lowered notes employed in blues, jazz, and other pop forms.
Usually refers to the third, fifth, and seventh degrees of the musical
scale.
Blues
A Black musical form of expression with limited vocal and harmonic
range but considerable expressive power. See ‘12-bar blues’, ‘rhythm
and blues’, and ‘rock ‘n’ roll’.
Boogie Woogie
African American blues-based music characterised by a forceful,
repetitive left-hand bass figure that drives the groove.
Break
A brief instrumental passage which maintains the underlying rhythm
and harmony of the piece.
Bridge
In a standard 32-bar or ‘AABA’ tune, the third or ‘B’ 8-bar phrase. Also
the instrumental solo that separates one verse, stanza, or chorus from
another.
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British Invasion
During the early 1960s, the introduction of pop music and musicians
from England, either in person or by way of recordings, into the United
States. The success of the Beatles during their 1964 American tour
contributed enormously to the overall impact of the British Invasion.
Broadway Show Tune
Any song written for one or more musical comedies performed in
theatres located on or close to Broadway in midtown Manhattan. Also:
songs similar in style to such tunes.
Call and Response
Musical or other situations in which one voice or voices are answered by
a different voice or voices. Associated originally with gospel.
Calliope
A kind of organ, formerly steam-powered but now usually electric.
Associated with circuses, carnivals, and other outdoor European and
American entertainments. Calliopes produce harsh, metallic musical
sounds.
Campy (also Camp)
Playful in a sarcastic, exaggerated manner.
CD
A common abbreviation for ‘compact disk’, a form of commercial
digitalised musical recording. See also ‘album’ and ‘LP’.
Celeste (also Celesta)
A small keyboard instrument outfitted with metal bars that produce
bell-like sounds when struck. Unknown in Western music until the
1890s, when Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky employed it in his Nutcracker
ballet.
Chaconne
A variation form in which a single chord progression defines each in a
series of subsequent statements or variations.
Chest Voice
Singing with the support of the diaphragm. Chest voice employed in bel
canto and other forms of classical vocal music as well as in Broadway
musical comedy.
Chorus
In popular music, the material that follows one or more verses. See also
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‘32- bar chorus’ and ‘refrain’.
Chromatic
(also
Chromatic Inflection)
Moving melodically by half instead of whole steps. Also, chords
containing one or more notes bearing sharps or flats. Sometimes
considered the ‘opposite’ of diatonic.
Close Harmony
Ensemble singing based on triads, parallel thirds and sixths, and other
‘closer’ intervals and chords. Originally a doo-wop and gospel term.
Club
In popular music, a place of entertainment where pop music can be
heard, often ‘live’. The Beatles performed in Hamburg and Liverpool
clubs during the very early 1960s.
Clustered Upbeat
One or more notes or syllables that function together in anticipation of a
downbeat that begins a subsequent measure or section of music.
Coda
Italian for ‘tail’. Any passage of music appended to the end of a longer
composition.
Combo Section
A term used of a small band or group of musicians and applied
principally to jazz or pop ensembles.
Concept Album
An LP or CD devoted to a single idea, story, or theme. Unlike most
albums, concept albums are created as compositional wholes. Sgt.
Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band remains the most famous concept
album in history.
Conga
A tall, barrel-staved, single- headed drum of African origin that is
usually played with the fingers and the hollow palm of the hands.
Coon Shouter
A singer, Black or White, who vigorously sings or even shouts out the
lyrics to certain kinds of African American music.
Count-off
The numbers spoken to establish the tempo of a pop song immediately
before that song begins.
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Counter-culture
Collectively, people with eccentric attitudes or habits. Also, the values
of such people. In 1960s America, this term was applied mostly to
anti-Vietnam War protestors and other individuals who disagreed with
certain commonly held American political, social, and cultural values.
Country
(also
Hillbilly music. Country musical ensembles often include banjos and
Country-western)
mandolins as well as guitars.
Cover
To perform or record a song composed by someone else.
Deep South (sometimes
In the United States, the geo-political and cultural area south of the
South)
so-called Mason-Dixon Line and east of Texas. This area includes the
states of Florida, Kentucky, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, and
Virginia, but the term ‘Deep South’ is sometimes reserved especially for
Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.
Distortion
Any form of alteration to a pre-existing or ‘pure’ musical sound. Reverb,
wobble, and amplification are all forms of electronic distortion. Forms
of acoustic distortion are produced by mutes (for brass instruments) and
pieces of metal (for prepared pianos).
Dominant
The fifth degree of a scale, or a chord built on such a note. In C Major, G
is the dominant note, a G-Major triad the dominant chord.
Doo-wop
A kind of Black vocal music, often sung without musical
accompaniment and in close harmony.
Double
To perform on more than one instrument or sing more than one part. A
guitarist, for example, may also be able to double as a percussionist.
Double-track
To record the same piece of music twice, then play back both recordings
at more or less the same time. After being double-tracked, singers such
as Elvis Presley or Paul McCartney can ‘sing with themselves’.
Downbeat
The first beat of a given melodic phrase, musical passage, or
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composition.
Drum Fill-ins
A short rhythmic improvisation which is used to fill in the gaps between
phrases or sections in a song.
Elvis Impersonator
A singer or actor who dresses up and pretends to be Elvis Presley.
Fadeout
To gradually reduce the volume of a musical passage, either by playing
or singing it more and more softly, or by decreasing its volume
electronically. Also: the conclusions of many pop songs in which the
music gradually fades out, becomes too soft to be heard.
Falsetto
A synonym for head voice. To sing without the support of the diaphragm
and especially to sign very high notes without such support.
Folk Music (also Folk
Any musical statement that sounds as if it were ‘traditional’ or ‘ethnic’
Song)
in origin. Sometimes used in opposition to ‘classical’ or ‘popular’ as a
form of musical expression or culture.
Folk Revival
A movement throughout Europe and North America, began as early as
the 1890s but especially widespread during the 1940s and 1950s, when
both authentic and simulated folk songs were performed as
entertainments. Bob Dylan began his career in the early 1960s as one
of the last but most influential Folk-Revival singer-songwriters.
Fusion
(also
Music)
Fusion
In popular music, rock combined with jazz, or sometimes with folk.
Many fusion bands include trumpets, trombones, saxophones, and other
jazz instruments as well as electric guitars and other rock instruments.
Glam Rock
From ‘glamour’. In popular music, a form of rock largely defined by the
elaborate costumes and makeup worn by its performers. Elvis came
close near the end of his career to appearing in public as a glam rocker.
Gospel
In music, certain performing traditions and tunes associated with
American religious music and especially with African American
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Protestantism. Gospel singers often improvise on familiar melodies,
ornamenting them elaborately. They also sometimes sing in close
harmony; in this respect, gospel resembles doo-wop.
Goth (or Goth Style)
In popular music, rockers who dress in black costumes made of leather
and wear heavy chains as ornaments or belts, outrageous makeup, facial
piercings, etc.
Grand Ole Opry
An American radio programme broadcast every week from Nashville,
Tennessee, since 1925. As an institution, the Opry has more or less
defined hillbilly, rockabilly, and country-western musical styles for
post-World War II audiences.
Groove
See ‘Rock Groove’
Groupies
Musical camp followers. Often used to refer to young women who
follow rock musicians, attend their concerts, and otherwise consort with
them. Occasionally used to refer to young men who do similar things.
Harmonica
A small, hand-held mouth organ. In popular music, harmonicas are
associated especially with folk, hillbilly, and skiffle.
Harmonica tremolos
The rapid alternation of two segments of a chord to create a trembling
effect.
Head Voice
See ‘Falsetto’.
Hillbilly
Residents, Black or White, of America’s eastern mountains. Also the
music made by those residents, either in reality or as simulated in
performances and recordings. Hillbilly music is generally considered
‘low-class’ entertainment, often home-made. In fact, much of it derives
from Scots-Irish immigrants to Appalachia as well as from Black
musical sources. Characteristic hillbilly instruments include the jug, the
banjo, and the washboard bass.
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Hippies
Young people in 1960s America who used LSD, wore psychedelic
clothing, lived together in experimental communities, etc. Often used as
an insult.
Honky-tonk
(also
Honky-tonk Piano)
A tinny piano sound associated with bars and other ‘low’ institutions of
American cities and towns, as opposed to rural hillbilly music.
Honky-tonk piano refers not merely to poorly tuned upright pianos
played in such places, but to the kind of music often played on them.
Hook
A musical phrase or sound placed near the beginning of a song to attract
attention.
Instrumental Break
See ‘Break’.
Interlude
Music played between sections of a composition. It may be an
instrumental music and serve to connect two sections.
Introduction
The opening passage of a song or composition.
Ironic
To comment on or present anything in a self- conscious and often critical
Commentary
(also Ironic or Irony)
manner.
Jam Session
An informal and private rehearsal or performance, as opposed to a public
concert.
Jobber
See ‘Club’.
Label
The name a recording company uses to market music: Sun, Parlophone,
Motown, etc.
Leading Tone
The tone lying immediately below the tonic of any scale. In C Major, B
is the leading tone.
Lieder
German for ‘songs’ (the singular is ‘Lied’). The art songs composed in
Germany especially during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
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Schubert and Mahler were among the most famous Lieder composers.
LP
An abbreviation for ‘long-playing’. 12-inch, 33rpm phonorecords are
LPs. Today sometimes also used for CDs.
LSD
An abbreviation for lysergic acid diethylamide, also known as ‘acid’, a
powerful and dangerous hallucinogenic
Lyrics
The words of a song, as opposed to its music.
Mandolin
A small, guitar-like instrument featured in many country-western
ensembles.
Mediant Progression
An harmonic progression ‘by thirds’. In C Major, a mediant progression
might be from I-III (C Major to E Major), or from I-iii (C Major to E
minor).
Melody (also Melodic
A tune, usually consisting of several phrases organised into one or more
Structure)
periods. The melody of “Michelle” is the part sung by McCartney on
Rubber Soul.
Mersey Sound
Refers not only to songs written or performed in Liverpool (located on
the Mersey River), but to songs by Liverpool artists that combined
elements of folk, jazz, and rock ‘n’ roll. Early Beatles numbers,
including “Love Me Do”, are examples of the Mersey sound.
Mixolydian
In music, one of the eight Medieval church modes or scale patterns. The
ascending Mixolydian scale ends with a whole step instead of a half step
(G – A – B – C – D – E – F – G), whereas the standard major scale ends
with a half step (G – A – B – C – D – E – F
Modal Harmony
– G).
Harmony based on scales other than those identical in structure to
standard major and minor scales. In a Mixolydian harmonic passage, for
example, the minor triad D/F/A would precede the major G/B/D to form
a modal dominant-tonic cadence (v-I).
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Motown (also Motown
The label distributed by the Motown Recording Corporation, as well as
Sound)
the music produced and marketed as ‘Motown’. Many Motown artists
performed together in small groups, singing and playing rock or
doo-wop numbers characterised by lively rhythmic figures and
distinctive structural patterns.
Music-hall Songs
In popular music, topical and occasionally risqué songs associated with
lower-class theatrical entertainment in England between the
later
nineteenth century and the 1950s.
Musical Device
Any definable way of momentarily manipulating musical material.
Counterpoint
chromatic
is
a
musical
device;
so
is
reverb;
so
is
harmony. Sometimes referred to disparagingly as
‘gimmicks’.
musique concrète
French for ‘hard’ (i.e., non-musical) music. Any ‘natural’ sound
recorded and introduced into an ‘artificial’ musical composition. The
airplane noises at the beginning of the Beatles’ “Back in the USSR” are
examples of musique concrète.
Ninth
See ‘Added Ninth’.
North
In the United States, the geo-political and cultural area north of the
so-called Mason-Dixon Line. Also, any place outside the South,
especially the Deep South. Often used in reference to such urban areas as
Manhattan, Boston, Chicago, etc.
Oblique Counterpoint
A kind of contrapuntal motion in which one voice or part remains fixed
on a given note while another moves away from that note. Oblique
counterpoint was originally employed in Medieval music, especially in
organum; for this reason it often sounds ‘antique’ or ‘exotic’, especially
when used in popular music.
Ondioline
A monophonic vacuum tube instrument composed of a single oscillator
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and a small eight-octave touch sensitive keyboard. Uncommon.
Open
Fourths,
Fifths
Notes sung or played a fourth or fifth apart, without the addition of thirds
(also Parallel Fourths,
or other musical intervals. In C Major, the notes D/A moving directly to
Fifths)
the notes E/B would be considered parallel fifths.
Ornament, Ornamented
In music, additional or extraneous notes added to a familiar tune or
pre-existing composition. An accento is an ornament; so are passing
notes used to link portions of existing melodies.
Parallel Harmony
Chords moving in parallel motion. In C Major, the triad C/E/G moving
directly to the triad D/F/A would be considered parallel harmonies.
Parallel Thirds
Voices or parts moving together at the interval of a third. In C Major, the
pair C/E moving directly to the pair D/F would be considered parallel
thirds.
Parody
A word with several somewhat different meanings. To ‘parody’
something often means simply to ridicule it. At the same time, many
musical parodies consist of pre-existing material reworked into new
forms. First used as a musical term to define the parody masses and
motets of Renaissance Europe, in which pre-existing compositions were
recomposed to serve new musical and cultural purposes. “Back in the
USSR” utilises both kinds of parody: it pokes fun at “California Girls”, a
Beach Boys song, even as it incorporates part of the song within its own
melodic structure.
Pastiche
Any cultural artifact composed of fragments or sections in different,
often extremely different styles.
Period
Period)
(also
Musical
A group of phrases forming a complete melodic statement.
One form of musical period is the 32-bar chorus. Another is the 12-bar
blues.
persona
from the Latin for ‘mask’. A persona is the individual one shows the
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outside world, as opposed to one’s inner self. Elvis Presley’s stage
persona was that of a vibrant, playful, occasionally cruel singer. In his
private life, by contrast, Elvis was often sorrowful, angry, or generous as
a son, friend, or business associate.
Phonorecord
A disk on which music or other sounds are recorded acoustically rather
than digitally. LPs, 45s, and 78s are all phonorecords, whereas CDs are
digital recordings.
Piccolo Trumpet
A small trumpet used today mostly in performing Baroque music.
Plagal Cadence
A IV-I rather than V-I chord progression. Often associated with
religious music, especially hymns.
Popping
Repeating one note over and over, often quickly. A term used in
conjunction with Irish and Irish-American folk music as well as pop
songs of certain kinds.
Postlude
A work forming the conclusion of a larger work or one performed at the
end of a ceremony.
Pre-recorded Sound
See ‘musique concrète’.
Psychedelic
See ‘LSD’, ‘acid’, ‘acid trip’, etc.
Psychedelic Art
Paintings or other visual forms of expression associated with LSD.
Yellow Submarine (1969), an animated movie based on Beatles songs,
features illustrations made by Peter Max, a 1960s painter and illustrator.
Punk Rock (also Punk
A form of music characterised by extreme harmonic and melodic
Rocker)
simplicity, high electrically amplified volume, and social protest or
anger. Punk began in the early 1970s; the term is often used to refer to
such British bands as the Sex Pistols.
Radio DJ
An abbreviation for ‘disk jockey’. A man or woman who plays
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recordings (or disks) during radio broadcasts. A term associated mostly
with popular music in 1950s and 1960s America.
Raga
In North Indian music, any exotic scale as well as the music constructed
using such a scale. Ragas are modes, each with its own tuning system
and cultural associations.
Race Music
In America and especially in the Deep South, anything composed or
performed by African Americans or suggestive of them. Rhythm and
blues was ‘race music’ until Elvis and other White (and Black)
performers transformed it into rock ‘n’ roll.
Receive
(also
Reception)
In aesthetics, the opinions expressed about a given individual, art work,
or artistic style. Elvis was initially received as a sexual icon; later, the
reception granted him by music-lovers also embraced his religious faith
and family values.
Refrain
A melodic statement that reappears anywhere in a song, often between
or after the chorus. Also used by some people as a synonym for
‘chorus’.
Retro
Not merely old-fashioned, but backward-looking. Retro art and music
are deliberately and often playfully antique. “Honey Pie” is a retro song
rather than an actual example of 1920s popular music.
Reverb
An abbreviation of ‘reverberation’. In popular music, the result of
electronic manipulation that makes music sound ‘larger’ or more distant,
and to create echo-like effects.
Rhythm and Blues
A Black term for rock ‘n’ roll. Also rock ‘n’ roll as performed by Black
artists.
Rock (also Rock Music)
A difficult term to define. Today, virtually a synonym for popular music.
In the 1960s, the term ‘rock’ was often used to distinguish the more
complex blend of musical styles and sound effects created by artists such
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as the Beatles from that of the less complex blend of styles and effects
employed by artists such as Elvis Presley.
Rock Groove
Any continuous syncopated rhythmic accompaniment in rock ‘n’ roll or
related musical idioms. Without a groove or backbeat, at least until the
Beatles transformed popular music, any given song cannot possibly be
‘rock’.
Rockabilly
A blend of rock ‘n’ roll and hillbilly musical styles and devices. Many
rockabilly bands, for example, employ banjos or pianos as well as
guitars and drums.
Rock ‘n’ Roll
A White term for rhythm and blues. Also, rhythm and blues as
performed mostly by White artists. This term is sometimes also used to
distinguish the more ‘authentic’ and vital recordings of Elvis and Chuck
Berry from the “rock ‘n’ roll” of later, more commercialised and less
exciting artists and ensembles, including Elvis impersonator Ricky
Nelson.
Rounded Binary Form
Repeat the material of section ‘A’ to arrive at a more symmetrical
structure, which is known as ‘rounded binary form’. The most common
treatment is A-A-B-A, which is even referred to as ‘pop song form’.
Samba
An energetic Brazilian dance and music style in 2/4 meter. It also comes
with verse provided for solo singer alternating with choral refrain.
Second
See ‘added second’.
Secondary Dominant
Dominant: harmonically, the dominant of a dominant (or other chord) in
any key. In C Major, a D-Major triad would be considered the dominant
of G Major, itself the dominant of the home key.
Set
See ‘battery’.
Seventh
See ‘Added Seventh’.
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Single
A 45rmp recording. Sales information for many of the songs recorded by
Elvis Presley and by the Beatles before 1965 appeared on singles charts;
to have a ‘hit’, Elvis or the Beatles would need to rank near the top of
such charts.
Sitar
A large Indian lute-like instrument outfitted with sympathetic strings
and movable frets.
Skiffle
A musical style that originated in both Black and White circles and
employed folk sounds as well as instruments such as the harmonica. The
Beatles began as skiffle artists.
Song Cycle
A carefully arranged and integrated collection of songs, often one that
tells a story or makes a particularly consistent musical statement. A
term used mostly in connection with certain collections of Lieder by
classical composers such as Schubert. Sgt. Pepper’s has often been
considered a song cycle rather than a mere collection of songs.
Soundtrack Album
Any LP or CD that contains the music from a particular musical comedy
or motion picture.
South
See ‘Deep South’.
Spliced-in
An antique term for cutting and pasting one piece of recorded magnetic
tape into another piece. Anything added electronically or digitally to a
pre-existing musical recording. Some of the ship and water sounds used
in “Yellow Submarine” were spliced into the music the Beatles
themselves sang and played.
Steel Guitar
An amplified guitar often played lying on a table instead of held in the
hands. Its sound is often associated with hillbilly or rockabilly music.
Stepwise
Chord
A progression, say, from I-II or from II-III in a given key.
Progression
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Strophic Form
Referring to vocal music in which the text changes but the music stays
essentially the same.
Stylistic Gestures
Any device employed in part (as opposed to all) of a musical
composition.
Subdominant
The fourth degree of a major or minor scale. Also, any triad built on that
scale degree. With regard to some Beatles songs, see also ‘substitute
chord’ below.
Substitute Chord
A chord used to function as another. Often the minor submediant triad is
used as a substitute for the dominant triad in pop music.
Subtext
Something suggested but not explicitly explained. One possible subtext
for the lyrics to “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” is an acid trip.
Summer of Love
A term invented by Time magazine to define the summer of 1967 in
terms of LSD, and San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury residential district,
where many hippies lived that year in counter-cultural communities. The
most famous musical ‘product’ of or associated with the Summer of
Love was Sgt. Pepper’s.
Surreal
Fantastic, dreamlike.
Swarmandel
A kind of Indian harp. Uncommon in Western music.
Tambura (or tamboura)
A small lute-like instrument from India. Similar instruments, including
the tamburitza from the Balkans, can be found in countries around the
world.
Tango
Popular Argentinian ballroom dance music with syncopated rhythm. It is
in 2/4 time with the first quaver dotted.
Tape Loop
Originally a piece of magnetic recording tape spliced to itself so that it
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could play endlessly without having to be rewound. Anything musical
fragment or sound played over and over in a mechanical manner.
Songs
Songs employing only tonic, subdominant, and dominant (I / IV / V)
Three-Chord
chords. Often used to refer to rock ’n’ roll music and the individuals who
Three-Chord
(also:
Players)
perform it.
Thirteenth
See ‘Added Thirteenth’.
Tipping
Moving between two adjacent notes, often rapidly. See also ‘popping’.
Tonic
The first degree of a major or minor scale.
Topical Song
A song with lyrics that discuss or refer to a current event or situation.
“Taxman” is a topical song insofar as it refers to the British system of
taxation, actual politicians involved with that system (including former
Prime Minister Wilson), etc.
Transposition
To move a musical statement from one key to another.
Vamp
In popular music, a short, repeatable musical figure usually placed at the
end of a song’s introduction.
Vaudeville
A form of entertainment, usually a variety show, popular throughout late
nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe. Vaudeville songs were
pop songs associated with such shows.
Verse
In popular music, either: a) the lyrics of a song; or b) the melodic period
that precedes or follows the chorus or refrain.
Vocal Break
The point in any singer’s range above which he or she cannot sing using
chest voice. Shifting quickly between chest and head voice (or falsetto)
produces an effect known as yodeling.
Vocal Range
The range, from lowest to highest, that a given singer can sing.
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Sometimes restricted to chest voice.
Washboard Bass
A primitive instrument that lends rhythmic support in skiffle and
hillbilly ensembles. Occasionally actually fashioned from a washboard,
a device used for scrubbing clothes to get them clean.
White
Caucasian American. See also ‘Black’.
Yodel
See ‘Vocal Break’.
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